FIGHTING FOR YOUR RITES: A STUDY OF RITUAL DYNAMICS IN JUDO

Abstract

Although rituals have been analysed across several perspectives, existing discussions offer limited interpretations of ritual behaviour. Rituals are commonly framed as conservative, static and homogenous processes that reinforce social order. This definition is inadequate as it ignores the dynamic nature of rituals and a perspective that acknowledges this aspect of ritual remains undeveloped. To address this theoretical gap, this ethnographic study uses participant observation and interviews to explore how university, judo athletes use ritual. As dynamic social processes that adapt to context and human agency, I argue judo athletes use and interpret rituals in diverse, contested ways and that this process has embodied effects their personal and social states. Reflecting this point, rituals are used to express hegemonic and marginalised discourses and to shape identities within ritual constituencies. While these findings unsettle previous ritual conceptualisations, the complete extent to which social and individual factors affect rituals remains unclear and further research is required.